Equine Photographer in Alabama
Ashley & Lola | A Golden Bond
By an Equine Photographer in Alabama
There’s something magical about the bond between a woman and her horse—especially when that bond is built from the ground up. Ashley raised Lola, her palomino barrel horse, from a fuzzy little foal into the powerhouse she is today. Every step, every ride, every milestone—they’ve done it all together.
As an equine photographer in Alabama, these are the stories I love to capture most. We planned their session during golden hour, and Lola’s coat glowed. Ashley kept it simple—boots, a soft dress, and the kind of love in her eyes you can’t fake. The connection between them was effortless and real.
Whether they were racing barrels or walking side-by-side in the pasture, it’s clear: Lola isn’t just a horse. She’s Ashley’s heart horse.
Here is Ashley and Lola’s story in her own words:
“In 2008, I thought my life was just starting. I had just graduated high school. I was working and starting community college in the fall to start the process to get into Vet school. Life was great. I was riding with a trainer in Florida, helping with the colts and showing which was my true passion. We showed in the all-around and at the time, the horse industry was where I felt I belonged.
A month after graduation, I received a call that I had never expected. It was my Dad telling me that after 20 years with his company, due to the economy crashing he was getting laid off. My world turned upside down. In a matter of weeks many things would change. I attempted to keep showing. I worked both my main job as a veterinary tech and multiple side jobs. I was able to still do local shows, but my focus was trying to get to the Pinto World Championship show in 2010 with my trainers Gelding, In The Moment. Between putting money away, sponsors and some generous gifts from family and friends, I was able to achieve that goal. After the world show, everything basically stopped.
After months of searching my dad finally found a job and the economy was starting to turn around. With his new job came a move to Alabama. The whole family slowly moved our belongings to a small Alabama town. This included my first horse Fancy who was retired from showing at that time. We finally all made it to Alabama and were starting to settle in at the end of 2010.
Fast forward a couple years…I changed my major and I graduated nursing school. I worked the entire way through school to avoid student loans. I met my best friend, Katie. She has been my biggest cheerleader since day one. I would not be here today if it weren’t for her. Many sleepless nights and early mornings, but we made it. I started my first nursing job in 2015 in Montgomery. I quickly went to work in ICU. I experienced many things while working in Montgomery: I learned from the best nurses, the tragic death of my first horse Fancy after a snake bite, my best friend (Katie) giving me my nieces and nephews, my brother giving me a niece and marrying my husband, Brian. After many years in Montgomery, I made my way to the ICU in Opelika at the end of 2019. It was time for a change and a closer drive to work.
The beginning of 2020 brought on new challenges. After, starting a new hospital, COVID made its way to the United States. Nobody knew anything about this new disease, and it was scary. Everything shut down in town. My husband who worked in the restaurant industry was out of work, so I began to work 6-7 days a week (with mandatory overtime). We saw so many scared and sick patients. Young, old, pregnant moms and even kids. All of them didn’t know if they would make it out of the hospital. Seeing the looks in their eyes as we put them on ventilators still haunts me to this day. I have lost count of how many people I did CPR on to try to bring back. Sweating through sets of scrubs just because we had to wear all the protective equipment. All the people that would beg us to save them, that would tell us they couldn’t breathe, all the people that knew they would not walk out of the hospital again and asked us to tell their family members that they loved them. One of my closest friends passed in the ICU I worked in while I worked there. It all began to take a toll on me mentally.
At the time I felt I was going into a dark spiral. There was no end in sight for us as health care workers. I couldn’t see my family or friends. I didn’t know if I would contract COVID and die. I worked night shift, so it seemed like an endless cycle of getting up, going to work and back home to try to sleep. I had no outlet and I felt alone. I couldn’t sleep and delt with anxiety and depression for the first time in my life. PTSD started coming in to play as well. I would wake up with my heart racing and unable to breathe. I began to feel cold and numb with no feelings at all. I knew something had to change. I was only a shell of my former self.
I talked with my husband about getting another horse. I needed an outlet for myself before I spiraled out of control. I needed help. Mentally and emotionally. He supported me with my decision. I started casually looking for another horse. Somehow or another, I decided I wanted a barrel horse. Something totally different from what I had ever done before. I call it my midlife crisis. I had looked at multiple different ads when one day, Lola’s ad (at the time she was called Sparrow) came across my Facebook. She stopped me dead in my tracks. I tried to carry on with my day, but I kept thinking about her. I don’t even know what it was that drew me to her. She was a gangly yearling at the time. She was in her “ugly phase”. I messaged both Katie and my mom and told them “Tell me not to go look at this horse” who was only about an hour away. They did the complete opposite and told me to go look. So, my dad and I borrowed a trailer (because I was only going to look lol) and made the trip to Prattville. With one look at her, I said I wanted her gave the man some money and loaded her on a trailer. She was skinny and looked terrible, but I didn’t care. I could tell she was the light in my soul that I had been missing.
We brought “TBD” home. She remained TBD for a while until I could come up with the perfect name. I also decided to change her registered name. From the first day I was doing groundwork. I had at least a year until I could begin getting her broke. Once I started to work with her and understand her personality, Lola came to mind for her name. She just reminded me of a graceful young lady. She bloomed into the beautiful horse she is today. Love and groceries go a long way. I also started to see a change in myself. I started to feel again. I wasn’t always sad and didn’t feel hopeless like I had for the past couple years while in the ICU. I started to go outside again and enjoy my time with family and friends. Her eyes spoke to me every time I worked with her. Even my mom told me that she could see the weight lift off my shoulders. She was overjoyed to finally see a smile on my face. I had finally come up with a registered name…AMC CORONAMADEMEDOIT. It was my way of reminding myself of everything I had come through the last couple years while “being in the trenches”. She became everything I had always wanted. She even got to go to a few open shows to get experience. As a yearling she won a buckle for overall grand champion halter horse for adults.
A year later it was time to start getting Lola broke. Overall, she became the easiest horse I have ever broke. Within a couple days, Lola was loping around with me like she had done it all her life. I believe with everything in me that Lola was sent to me to be my guardian angel. She saved me from myself when I had nothing left in me. She pulled me from the dark hold that is anxiety. In a way she saved my life. Since breaking Lola, she has won a couple buckles and I have been seasoning her with the help of my friend Kathryn. We have been competing in Jackpots and larger shows. Every day is a new adventure with Lola and at just 5 years old now, her future is looking bright. I cannot wait to see how far we go. No matter what we do, she is my heart, and I am so thankful for her love every day.”
If you’re in Alabama and want to celebrate your own story with your horse, I’d love to be the one to help you tell it.
Let’s create something beautiful—something that lasts. Contact me here.
